Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Over the weekend I shared my review and my first presentation created with the new Haiku Deck web app. I have received a handful of questions about the web app since then. In the video below I provide a demonstration of how to use the Haiku Deck web app and in so doing address the questions that I've received about it.

It seems like every week a new MOOC is launched. It can be difficult to keep track of them all and or find one that addresses a subject of interest to you. Class Central is a free service that aims to help students find MOOCs of interest to them.

Class Central provides an online catalog of MOOCs. On Class Central you can search for MOOCs according to subject, start date, and course provider. Class Central also offers "MOOC Tracker" that will alert you when a MOOC of interest to you becomes available.

Applications for Education
MOOCs offer a good way for anyone to learn about topics of interest to them. If you have a student who is ready to learn about a subject, but your school doesn't offer an advanced course, a MOOC could be the solution.

English is a tricky language. Silent letters and quirky rules about plural and possessive words will trip up native speakers as well as ESL students. TED-Ed and The Open University offer short lessons on the evolution of English and some of its trickier rules.

Tomorrow morning one of the traditions that millions of Americans will participate in is watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. If you and or your students are curious about how this tradition started and how it has evolved, Macy's has the answers for you. Macy's Parade History offers a short timeline with video clips explaining the history of the parade. On the same site you will also find pictures from past parades as well as a map of the parade route.

That Was History is a YouTube channel that I recently started following. Every week That Was History releases a video about interesting events that happened during the same week in history. Some of the videos are about serious events like JFK issuing Executive Order 11063 while other videos have a less serious tone like this one about Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier. Both of those videos are embedded below.

Applications for Education
The That Was History videos are exactly the kind of videos that I would put into my course blog as supplementary material that could appear as a bonus question on upcoming quizzes and tests.